Biological Articles

Glyphosate, the main ingredient in Monsanto‘s Roundup herbicide, is recognized as the world’s most widely used weed killer. What is not so well known is that farmers also use glyphosate on crops such as wheat, oats, edible beans and other crops right before harvest, raising concerns that the herbicide could get into food products.

Escalating Use of Probable Carcinogen

Glyphosate has come under increased scrutiny in the past year. Last year the World Health Organization’s cancer group, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, classified it as a probable carcinogen. The state of California has also moved to classify the herbicide as a probable carcinogen. A growing body of research is documenting health concerns of glyphosate as an endocrine disruptor and that it kills beneficial gut bacteria, damages the DNA in human embryonic, placental and umbilical cord cells and is linked to birth defects and reproductive problems in laboratory animals.

What is not so well known is that farmers also use glyphosate on crops such as wheat, oats, edible beans and other crops right before harvest.

A recently published paper describes the escalating use of glyphosate: 18.9 billion pounds have been used globally since its introduction in 1974, making it the most widely and heavily applied weed-killer in the history of chemical agriculture. Significantly, 74 percent of all glyphosate sprayed on crops since the mid-1970s was applied in just the last 10 years, as cultivation of GMO corn and soybeans expanded in the U.S. and globally.

Glyphosate Used to Speed Up Wheat Harvest

Charles Benbrook, Ph.D., who published the paper on the mounting use of glyphosate, says the practice of spraying glyphosate on wheat prior to harvest, known as desiccating, began in Scotland in the 1980s.

“Farmers there often had trouble getting wheat and barley to dry evenly so they can start harvesting. So they came up with the idea to kill the crop (with glyphosate) one to two weeks before harvest to accelerate the drying down of the grain,” he said.

The pre-harvest use of glyphosate allows farmers to harvest crops as much as two weeks earlier than they normally would, an advantage in northern, colder regions.

The practice spread to wheat-growing areas of North America such as the upper Midwestern U.S. and Canadian provinces such as Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

“Desiccation is done primarily in years where conditions are wet and the crop is slow to dry down,” Joel Ransom, an agronomist at North Dakota State University, said.

Ransom says desiccating wheat with glyphosate has been a useful tool for farmers.

“It does help hasten dry down and controls grain weeds and other material that slows down the threshing practice,” he said. “It has an important role in areas where it’s wet.”

Ransom says the practice has increased in North Dakota, which is the leading wheat-producing state in the U.S., over the past 15 years due to wetter weather.

While more common in Upper Midwestern states where there is more moisture, desiccation is less likely to be done in drier wheat growing areas of Kansas, Oklahoma, Washington and Oregon.

All Conventional Farmers in Saskatchewan Desiccate Wheat

According to a wheat farmer in Saskatchewan, desiccating wheat with glyphosate is commonplace in his region. “I think every non-organic farmer in Saskatchewan uses glyphosate on most of their wheat acres every year,” the farmer speaking on condition of anonymity said.

He has concerns about the practice. “I think farmers need to realize that all of the chemicals we use are ‘bad’ to some extent,” he said. “Monsanto has done such an effective job marketing glyphosate as ‘safe’ and ‘biodegradable’ that farmers here still believe this even though such claims are false.”

The vast majority of farmers in Manitoba, Canada’s third largest wheat producing province, also use glyphosate on wheat, said Gerald Wiebe, a farmer and agricultural consultant. “I would estimate that 90 to 95 percent of wheat acres in Manitoba are sprayed pre-harvest with glyphosate; the exception would be in dry areas of the province where moisture levels …

There is little doubt that in terms of quality, much of the food sold in the United States lags behind those sold in other nations. In fact, what you are eating now may ALREADY be banned in other countries because of harmful additives, growth promoters, genetically engineered ingredients, or other dangerous practices.

The overall level of health in the country is deteriorating, faring lower than other industrialized countries even in the face of greater healthcare spending. You can’t help but see a connection between these toxic foods and the rising rates of disease. from now on.

Farm-raised fish of all species is of high concern. They can spell disaster for your health in numerous ways, because ALL farm-raised fish – not just salmon – are given a concoction of vitamins, antibiotics, and synthetic pigments (depending on the fish) to compensate for the lack of natural flesh coloration due to the unnatural diet. The fish are also exposed to pesticides, along with compounds such as toxic copper sulfate, which is typically used to keep nets free of algae.

Studies consistently found ratios of PCBs, dioxins, toxaphene, dieldrin, and mercury to be higher in farm-raised fish than wild fish.

And let’s not forget the more than 3,000 food additives – preservatives, flavorings, colors, and other ingredients – that are added to US processed foods, including infant foods and those targeting young children. The most popularly used dyes in the country – red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, and blue 2 – have been shown in research to cause behavioral problems, as well as cancer, birth defects, and other health issues in lab animals.

In countries where these food dyes and colors are banned, companies like Kraft employ natural colorants instead, like paprika extract, beet root, and annatto. Why can’t they do the same in the American Mac & Cheese and other widely consumed products?

Time to Make a Healthy Change in Your Diet

This is a wake-up call. Avoid questionable ingredients and potentially dangerous foods permitted in the US food supply by ditching these processed foods completely and choosing whole, raw, preferably organic foods.

Swap out your regular meat sources to organic, grass-fed/pasture-raised versions of beef and poultry. The same applies to dairy and animal byproducts such as eggs. Follow a good nutrition plan to optimize your health.

Make this infographic your starting point. Learn about these top food pretenders that should be banned from your home and this country for good. Share the information with your family and friends to help them take control of their health as well.

The reports about tests on human beings that are being routinely carried out by certain Western corporations have become a sort of a trend these days. Among others, one can recall the story about the long struggle between civil…